Coin drawer



June 10, 1941. M RUNKO 2,245,415

COIN DRAWER Filed Jan. 23, 1941 2 NIH {$36 /'7/c/-/A 4. Ru/v/ro.

INVENTOR.

@f/ZZzWr ATTORMYS.

Patented dune iii, lQ sl Michael Ramiro, Brooklyn, H. il.

fl-p -i-ieation .i'anuary 23, 1fi4iLSerial No. 315,825

I 5 Clair as.

This invention relaites'to improvements in coin drawers and especially to those" embodied in cash registers.

Storekeepers are fr-equently'accused or suspected by customers of shortbhanging the customer, that is, a dispute may arise in which the customer honestly believes that he gave the storelreeper a coin of larger denomination than that for which the Storekeeper returns in change less than the amount of the purchased mer- 'chandise. 1f the coin given to the Storekeeper is deposited. directly into the money drawer and becomes mixed with the other eoins therein, the Storekeeper isunab-le to identify the accepted coin, with the result that he either disputes the customers word which is harmful to his good will, or rather than lose the good will of the customer, he takes the loss for the difference between the amount of the accepted coin and that of the higher denomination which the customer believes to have givenhim. It is therefore the main object of this invention to prevent :disputes between a storekeeper and his customer "as regards the" making of change during a transaction in which a coin is given to the storejkeeper to cover 'the'amount of the purchase made by a customer.

vAn important feature of theinvention is to provide holes in the slab counter of a cash reg- ;ister into which the various size denominations of coins received bya storelreeper may be in- ;serted, there being means associated with the coin receiving holes to" prevent the coins from dropping into the respective coin. compartments of the sliding money drawer and for displaying the coin to the view of the customer until the drawer is manually pushed closed after the sale transaction has been consummated and the customer is satisfied. l/Vhen the money draw-er is pushed closed, there is provided a novel means for releasing the coins from the money holes to cause the coinsto drop by gravity into their respective coin compartments, thus clearing the coin holes prior to the next transaction.

A further feature of the invention is to pro vide an honest method of making change which can be embodied in the present conventional cash registers without altering the construction thereof.

Other features of the invention will become apparent as the following specification is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cash reg- 'ister embodying the invention, the money drawer being shown in open position.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, the

' dotted lines indicating themoney drawer in closed position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan View of the coin support.

Figure 4 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 3- 2 of Figure 2, the coin being illustrated in dot and dash lines.

Referring to the drawing by reference char-- acters, (the numeral iii designates a cash register of conventional construction which includes a housing if provided with a fiat top' panel or counter 12 at the front thereof. Slidably mounted in the housing N is the usual money drawer 13 which is provided with spaced longitudinal partitions i l which divides the interior of the drawer into a row of coin compartments E5.

The fiat top wall or panel 32 is provided with a row of spaced round coin receiving openings E 8, the same being of different diameters to accommodate different size coins of different denominations, such as fifty-cents; twenty-fivecenlts; ten-cents, and five-cents, respectively, and the openings are identified by the denominations of the coins which they are intended to'receive.

Each coin receiving opening it has associated therewith a means for releasably' supporting a coin in a horizontal position within view through the opening. Fla-chef the releasable holding means includes a rear bridge bar I? disposed rearwardly of the center of the opening and which is provided with upwardly extending leg portions 28 which are attached to the underside of the top wall l2. Disposed'forward of the center of the opening it is a "pair of spaced bars l9l9, the spacetherebetween being designated 2%. Each bar it is provided with a leg portion 23 which isattached to the underside of the top wall iii. The bars El and iii-4Q are disposed on the same horizontal plane below the plane of the underside of the top wall l2 as best seen in Figure 2, the distance between the bars and the adjacent undersides of the top wall being slightly greater than the thickness of the coin to be deposited in the opening.

Secured to the front Wall of the drawer l3 and extending into the respective coin compartments l5, are arm members 22 and carried by the rear end of each arm member is an upstanding pin 23 of a width to enter the passage 20 between the bars id-lh. The pin 23 extends to a plane above the horizontal plane of the supporting bars I1 and Iii-49 so as to contact the edge of a coin resting upon the supporting bar when the drawer I3 is pushed to a closed position as will be more fully described.

In practice, assume that a cash register embodying my invention is in use in a store, and the storekeeper is given a coin of a particular denomination by a customer for the purchase of merchandise, The storekeeper first rings up the amount of the sale on the cash register, which causes the drawer E3 to automatically slide outwardly to open position as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The storekeeper places the coin handed him by the customer upon the flat top wall or counter l2 and slides it into the proper coin receiving opening I6, that is, the opening corresponding to the denomination of the said coin. The coin entering the opening l8 flatly drops upon the supporting bars I! and I 9-49 and the Storekeeper takes the proper change if necessary, from the coin drawer l3 and gives it to the customer. Should the customer complain that he gave the storekeeper a coin of a higher denomination, it is possible for both the Storekeeper and the customer to check the dcnomination of the coin for it is still within sight through the opening 46 as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing. After a sale has been completed to the satisfaction of both the storekeeper and the customer, the storekeep-er proceeds to close the drawer l3, and in so doing the pins 23 move rearwardly with the drawer and should any coins be present on the supporting bars l1 and I 9-! 9, they will be pushed or ejected therefrom by reason of the pins striking the edge of the coin and passing rearwardly through the space 29 a sufficient distance to cause the coin to drop rearwardly of the bridge bar I1 into the proper coin compartments l5 as best illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing.

Whereas I have illustrated my invention embodied in a conventional cash register, it will be understood that the same may be embodied in an ordinary money drawer to facilitate accurate checking of coins handed to a storekeeper, in order to prevent unpleasant arguments with customers and the loss of good will in business.

While I have shown and described what I consider to be the most practical embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that such changes in construction and design as come within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a money drawer having a row of coin compartments, a housing in which said money drawer is slidably mounted, the top wall of said housing having a row of spaced coin openings of different diameters to respectively receive coins of different sizes and denominations, said openings being respectively disposed over the coin compartments, means associated with each opening for supporting a coin below the horizontal plane of the top wall when inserted therein, and means movable with said money drawer for ejecting the coin supported by said first means when sliding said money drawer from an open position to a closed position to cause the coin to drop into its coin compartment.

2. In combination, a housing having a flat top wall provided with a plurality of coin receiving openings of difierent sizes to receive various size coins by flatly positioning the coins on the flat top wall and sliding them thereon into their respective receiving openings, means associated with each coin receiving opening for releasably supporting coins below the horizontal plane oi the top wall when inserted therein, a money drawer slidably mounted in said housing and coin ejecting mean-s carried by said money drawer for ejecting coins from the releasable supporting means when the drawer is moved from an open to a closed position to cause coins to drop thereinto.

3. In combination, a cash register having a flat counter and a money drawer slid-ably mounted beneath said counter, a row of separate coin compartments provided in said money drawer, said counter having a row of spaced coin receiving openings therein which are respectively alined with the coin compartments, said coin receiving openings being of difierent sizes to respectively receive coins of different size denominations, mean-s associated with each coin receiving opening for supporting a coin below the horizontal plane of the top wall within sight when inserted flatly therein, and means mounted on said money drawer and respectively disposed within the coin compartment for ejecting coins from the supporting means when sliding the money drawer from an open to a closed position .to cause any coins supported thereby to drop into their respective coin compartments.

4. In combination, a. drawer having a coin compartment therein, .a housing in which the drawer is slidably mounted, the top wall of said housing having a coin receiving opening therein, means for releasably supporting a coin below the horizontal plane of the top wall and within sight when flatly inserted into said opening, and means within said drawer for ejecting a coin from the releasable supporting means when the drawer is moved from an open position to a closed position to cause the coin to drop into the coin compartment.

5. In combination, a housing having a flat top wall, said flat top wall having a round coin receiving opening therein, means for flatly supporting a coin below the horizontal plane of the top wall when inserted into said opening, said means including a bridge bar disposed rearward of the axial center of said opening, a pair of spaced alined bars disposed forward of the axial center of the opening, and an ejector pin supported within said drawer in the plane of a coin supported upon said bars and in alinement with the space between the pair of bars for ejecting a coin therefrom when the drawer is slid from an open position to a closed position to cause the coin to drop by gravity into said drawer.

MICHAEL RUNKO. 

